I noticed that the traffic lights on freeway onramps in Seattle and Chicago are treated very differently. You virtually never see people in Seattle ignore them. In the Chicago area, it seemed that most people ignored them.
What I find comical is on several freeways in the Seattle area, the HOV lane is open to all cars after 7:00 pm and has been that way for a year or so. Yet I will still see someone veering in and out of lanes, cutting people off and otherwise driving rather inappropriately, yet never touch the HOV lane even though it is after seven and the lane is basically empty - except for me, who is easily overtaking said vehicle, and I am alone, with the top down...
They've been debating opening up the HOV lanes after 7pm here too. In NorCal, they are open to all after 7pm, but down in SoCal, the bureaucrats/nannies are reluctant to do so.